Recently, I’ve been working on a few projects where the the design of a family's home will dramatically affect the way they live within it.

How, you ask?

By taking down a wall...or two. ;-)

DESIGN REFRESH *

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Yes, this is major construction.

It requires new LAM beams, engineer load calculations, and some significant dollars to bring everything together; but the impact our efforts will have on the lives that live in this home will be huge.

And really... Isn’t that the exact type of impact you should want after all the dust has cleared and your home has been re-designed? Shouldn’t you feel like your life has changed for the better and that your investment was worth every penny? Yes! Of course you should!

Project #1:

*Just finishing-up construction

This family wanted the everyday use of their formal areas to feel more relaxed and casual, so they decided to open up things a bit, get some new lighter, more up-to-date furnishings, and bring it all together with a new, overall look.

Before

Click to enlarge full-screen

To pull this off we took down the wall between the formal areas and the back of the house, and also removed a few of those columns that “caged” the dining room and deleted the peninsula that blocked-in the kitchen. By way of building a larger island with seating, we made the kitchen feel more open, and those new sliding French doors on the back of the house now bring in much more light from the backyard. Now they can see clear through the home into the beautiful back garden for a look and feel that is open and inviting.

During construction

After construction | Photographer: Tori Aston

What a view from the kitchen of Project #2!

Project #2:

*Just starting construction

This couple has a gorgeous park-like setting along the back of their home. It overlooks a lake and truly is picturesque. Unfortunately though, if you were looking back there while standing in the kitchen all you could see of that spectacular view was this:

Before project

Not exactly the most inviting or fun vibe for a kitchen to have while cooking, huh?

In an effort to give them a wonderful open plan house, as well as the most desirable kitchen in the neighborhood, we’re going to:

Put in a new LAM beam

Expand the opening all the way across the space

And build a larger island that will be pushed out closer to the living room

And voila! They’re now the envy of the entire neighborhood. ;-)

Existing floor plan | Click image to enlarge full-screen

Kitchen floor plan | Click image to enlarge full-screen

Click to enlarge full-screen

Project #3:

This living room is only about 12’ across. And the kitchen—it felt closed off, making it feel like a dark interior room. So, by removing the wall in between and adding more seating to their new, larger countertop, we were able to make that space feel like one big open room without removing any square footage. Now the light will be able to pour into the kitchen and they'll be able to be part of the action in the living room while they're cooking or preparing a cocktail!

Isn’t it amazing how these rooms doubled in size, visually, without adding any square footage!

I know, I know, it takes a lot of dinero to do this kind of project. But, before you decide to put this off till another day, at least consider this:

If you’re already redoing your floors, painting, and making a lot of other significant changes, don’t you think you should consider opening yourself up to the idea of pushing the project a little bit further by opening up your space so can feel that major impact an interior design project is supposed to have on your life?

The advice and comments I offer here on the blog and in the comments section are free and are done for sharing and discussion. I am in no way taking responsibility for your decisions on your projects, I am simply offering up some advice from my distant and limited view of your situation in question. I try to answer as time permits but cannot get to all of them. If you want to hire me personally, there are ways to do that by clicking on my Services page.

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